"Education is a bubble in a classic sense. To call something a bubble, it must be overpriced and there must be an intense belief in it. Housing was a classic bubble, as were tech stocks in the '90s, because they were both very overvalued, but there was an incredibly widespread belief that almost could not be questioned - you had to own a house in 2005, and you had to be in an equity-market index fund in 1999." ~ Peter Thiel on higher education for NRO.

"It's basically extremely overpriced. People are not getting their money's worth, objectively, when you do the math. And at the same time it is something that is incredibly intensively believed; there's this sort of psycho-social component to people taking on these enormous debts when they go to college simply because that's what everybody's doing."

Like Thiel, we at Money Morning believe that America has been swallowed by a student loan bubble.

Student debt in the United States has already surpassed the country's auto loans and consumer credit card debt. A student loan bubble looms on America's horizon, and promises dark times should it ever burst.

And earlier this month, the student loan problem worsened.

Federally subsidized Stafford loan interest rates doubled from 3.4% to 6.8% after Congress missed the July 1st 2013 deadline, and instead recessed for the Independence Day holiday.

The failure sparked frustration amongst student advocates nationwide.

However, Congress is able to retroactively "fix" the damage done by the soaring rate increase - that is, if Democrats and Republicans can come to an agreement on the matter.

So far, no dice: an emerging bipartisan Senate deal hit a stumbling block last week.

Even though the House was able to pass its own plan in May, the Senate is still at an impasse.

Democratic senators are avoiding the prospect of trying to "balance the budget on the backs of students."

On the other hand, Republican senators want a plan that doesn't risk adding huge sums to the deficit.

Here's what we've got so far:

The tentative deal ties Stafford loan interest rates with rates on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note.

Additionally, there would be a capped interest rate of 8.25% for undergraduates and 9.25% for all other loans.

Republicans would get a link between the financial markets and borrowing terms through this proposal.

Democrats would get a guarantee that interest rates would not reach 10%, their proverbial line in the sand.

Anyone wondering how to get out of student loan debt - or wondering if a slew of student debtors could try to do so - needs to read this.

Yesterday, I wrote about the case of Michael Hedlund, the failed law student who was able to discharge $58,000 of his student loans in a 10-year bankruptcy action.

Before Hedlund's case, it was widely accepted that there were only two ways to get out of student debt: pay it off, or die.

But the Ninth Circuit took a long, hard look at Hedlund's circumstances. It found that he'd acted in good faith to repay his loans, and that paying the full amount would be an undue hardship for Hedlund and his family.

The court viewed Hedlund as an "ideal debtor," and so it excused a large portion of his debt.

If you are a student debtor, you too could have a decent shot at discharging your student debt in bankruptcy, but only if you are an ideal student debtor.

Accepted wisdom says that there are only two (rather sobering) ways to relieve the burden of student debt: either pay it off, or depart from this earthly world.

Until now.

On May 22 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals wiped out $58,000 in student loan debt for a former law student in bankruptcy proceedings, sending shockwaves through the formerly impervious facade of student loan debt performance.

By submitting your email address you will receive a free subscription to Money Morning and receive Money Morning Profit Alerts. You will also receive occasional special offers from Money Map Press and our affiliates. You can unsubscribe at anytime and we encourage you to read more about our privacy policy.

By submitting your email address you will receive a free subscription to Money Morning and receive Money Morning Profit Alerts. You will also receive occasional special offers from Money Map Press and our affiliates. You can unsubscribe at anytime and we encourage you to read more about our privacy policy.